Cowell and Beckle lead Badgers at Farragut Invite

FARRAGUT — Ethan Cowell and Sydney Beckle were the top Badger runners at the Timberlake Farragut Invite on Saturday, Sept. 7. 

Cowell, a junior, is a first-year cross country runner for Bonners Ferry.  

Beckle, a senior, has returned from a burn injury on her legs; however, despite the injury she remains the top Badger girls runner.  

“The Timberlake Farragut Invitational was a huge event with about 860 runners from all over the region and state of Idaho with teams from as far away as Meridian,” Bonners Ferry head coach Lyndsay Hart said. “The course got very dusty with all those runners and kids came across the finish line with dirt caked on their lips and teeth... redefining the "grit" it takes to be a successful cross country athlete” 

The Badger girls finished at 18th and the boys at 28th overall.  

Hart said the hot, dusty weather made it difficult for the Badgers to run personal records for the season, but nearly all who ran in the meet last year improved their times from 2023. 

Junior Ethan Cowell was the first-place boy for the Badgers with a time of 19:16, followed by Micah Thomson, Colton Cohen, and Matthew McCabe.  

Freshman Brock Tuma had a nearly four-minute PR.  

In the girl's race the first Badger was Sydney Beckle with a time of 21:56, followed by Matisyn Stiern 5 seconds later. Freshman Kylie Calderone was the third Badger to cross the finish line.  

In league, the Badgers compete against Timberlake and Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy.  

Timberlake’s Caleb Royce finished in 15th at 16:33.35. Jacob Stateren followed at 18:33.35 and Josh Yeager 18:51.83. Jospeh Sateren 19:15.15 beat out Bonners Ferry’s Cowell by a second.  

Top Coeur d’Alene Charter runners included Noah Curtis 21:29.50 and Miles Rigg 22:11.92, the first recorded race of season for both. 

Timberlake: Vannessa McLachlan, junior, took 12th at 20:04.88 followed by Malia Miller 21:15.68, Lola Eggleston 21:18.12.  

Beckle for Bonners Ferry was about 45 seconds behind Eggleston. 

Charter had no girl runners at the meet.  

“We are also super grateful for this community that shows up big to support its student athletes as we raised over $1,200 last weekend at our car wash/bake sale last week,” Hart said.  

Badger cross country will have their only home meet this Saturday, Sept. 14 starting at 9 a.m. at the BFHS track. 

Girls top 5 teams: 1, Capital 70; 2, Gonzaga Prep 119; 3, Coeur d’Alene 122; 4, Mt. Spokane 150; 5, Bishop Kelly 188.  

Boys top 5 teams: 1, Coeur d’Alene 41; 2, Mt. Spokane 77; 3, Lewis and Clark 94; 4, Cheney 141;  

Badger Girls times: Sydney Beckle 21:56.29; Matisyn Stiern 22:01.00; Kylie Calderone 23:08.31; Gia Romer 24:41.05; Cheyenne Schutte 25:35 PR; Kya Alderman 25:35.39; Timber Jackson 25:38.25. 

Badger boys times: Ethan Cowell 19:16:94; Micah Thomson 20:06.36; Colton Cohen 20:40.81; Matthew McCabe 21:42.43; Adam Copen 22:43.43; Gaige Johnson 24:41.15.  

    Badger girls cross-country runners at the Farragut Invite on Saturday, Sept. 7.